Photographic developer



Dec. 28, 1943. G, P, GRANT, JR 2,337,989

PI-IOTOGRAPHICl DEVELOPER Original Filed March 5, 1937 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 *L TIT;

INVENTORv yawn-w {Vgm ATTORNEY Dec. 28, 1943. G. P. GRANT, JR 2,337,989

PHOTOGRAPHIC DEVELOPER Original Filed March 5, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 ATTORNEY `present application is a division.

Patented Dec. 2s, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT ori-ics PHOTOGRAPHIC DEVELOPER Garnet Peter Grant, Jr., Slvermine, Conn., as-

signor to Grant Photo Corporation, New York,

Original application March 5, 1937, Serial No. 129,165. Divided and this application April 6,

1940, Serial No. 328,219

1 Claim.

'exposed nlm or sensitized paper is introduced into the developer, no further manual oper-ation is necessary, and the apparatus will deliver the iilm completely developed, or, in the case of direct positive paper, a nished picture.

A further object of the invention isto provide 'a developing apparatus in which the lm will be moved in a step-by-step process to the several phases of development. A further object of the invention is to provide means to control the temperature of the developing chemicals and the time for development. A further object'of the invention is to provide an apparatus so constructed that a single source of power and a single operating means will operate all the moving parts synchronously.

A further object of the invention is to provide a series of developing tanks and an apparatus associated therewith so arranged that in the event of a breakdown the apparatus can be removed and the tanks used for development by hand in the usual manner. A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus in which the lm may be fed to the developer manually or may be fed automatically in the manner disclosed in the parent application of which the The invention consists of the construction, combination and arrangement of parts, as herein illustrated, described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part hereof, is illustrated one form of the invention, in which drawings similar reference characters designate corresponding parts, and in which the same reference characters are used to designate parts corresponding to the disclosure of the parent' application, and in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly broken away, showing the apparatus in operative position with the film immersed in the developing tanks;

Figure 2 is a plan view;

Figure 3 is an end elevation of the left-hand end of Figure 1, with the parts in the same'relative position as shown in Figure 1; and,

Figure 4 is a side elevation, partly broken away, corresponding to the left hand side of Figure 1, but with the parts in position when the film is removed from the developing tanks.

Referring to the drawings, 20 designates a piece of film which may be either ordinary film or direct positive paper. In order to avoid handling the paper or film 2U manually it is placed .in a iilm holder designated generally as 56. As

best shown in Figure 3, the lm holder 56 comprises a transverse supporting member 5l to which are connected complementaiy arms 58 having their upper ends 59 bent Iaround the sup porting member 5i. On the lower ends of the arms 59 are disposed complementary channel members itil to receive the strip of film Ztl. The channel members @il are perforated to permit drainage of developing chemicals.

The iilm holder or frame t6, carrying the film 2li, is adapted to be placed in a trackway of the developing apparatus, and immersed in a tank of chemicals, then raised and moved forward to a second tank and lowered into the second tank. The process is repeated through all of the necessary baths of solutions or washes until the development operation is completed. For the apparatus, a table or support H15 is provided on which is disposed a large tank W6. The tank Iil is provided with a vdrain pipe Ill'l to which may be removably connected an overflow pipe Idil to maintain a desired water level in the tank IBG. Longitudinally of the tank |96 are disposed spacers W9 upon whichare set a number of small tanks H0 to contain the various chemicals used in the several steps of developing a picture. A number of water tanks I I I are provided and one tank i il is disposed adjacent to each tank im. A water supply pipe H2 is controlled by an ordinary valve H3. The pipe H2 is formed with several branches which terminate in outlets IM, at the ends of the several water tanks I I I. The opposite Wall of each tank III is formed with a recess II5 to permit the overflow of Water into the main tank |06.

With this arrangement a constant flow of water may be maintained from the pipe II2 and discharged through the overflow |98 and drain pipe I 01. the top of the overiiow |08 and will circulate around the several chemical tanks I I0. In this way the temperature of the chemicals in the tanks IIII may be controlled. In `cold weather where it is not desired to cool the contents of The tank |06 will ll with water to around the tanks I0.

. Same.

and the water from the tanks will flow directly into the drain |01 without circulating Carried by the edge of the tank |08 is a horlzontal angle iron frame |'|6. On one side of the frame I |6 is provided a plurality of main lifted` from the tank |06 and the various tanks y ||0 and I may be used for hand developing.

Carried by one post ||1 is an electric motor which supplies movement to a worm drive |2| of ordinary construction. The worm drive |2| operates a worm wheel |22. An auxiliary vertical frame member |23 is provided and is maintained rigid by a cross member |24 near its lowerend. The member |23 may rest on the table |05.

A transverse shaft |25 has its ends journaled in the supports ||1`and |23 and is rotated by the worm wheel |22. Carried by the shaft |25 is a cam |26 havingone large extended face |21 and a plurality of small projections |28. The operation of the cam |26 causes the lm frames 56 to be raised and lowered in the tanks ||0 and as hereinafter described. On the cam |26 there is a portion on either side of the point marked |29 on Figure 1 where there is no projection |28. This clear portion is provided so that the mechanism controlled by th cam |26 will remain stationary while frames 56 are being fed on by hand, or by means of an automatic apparatus as disclosed in Patent No. 2,196,586.

An extension |30 is provided on the post ||1 and a lever |3| is pivoted at |32 to the extension |30. The opposite end of the lever |3| is connected to a twisted link |33, the upper end of which is pivoted to the mid-point of a transverse bar 34. The front end of the bar |34 is connected to a longitudinal bar |36 which is rotatable and the ends of which are journaled in the two posts ||1. The opposite end ofjthe transverse bar |34 is connected to a U-shaped frame |31 having arms |38 through the center of which passes the bar |36 and to which the arms 38 are connected. A counter-balance |39 is secured to the frame |31 to permit easy movement of the parts, as hereinafter "described,

To the end of each arm |38 are connected transverse U-frames |40 by means of pivots |4|. The U-frames |40 are provided with depending arms |42 which support a longitudinal trackway |43. The trackway |43, as best shown in Figure 3, comprises a pair of relatively Wide strips |44, one on either side of a narrow strip |45 so as to leave a space therebetween into which may be received theends of the supporting member 51 of the frames 56.

As the cam |26 is rotated the large face |21 will ride against-the lever |3| and depress the The lever vLH, acting through the link |33 will draw downwardly the transverse bar |34. The bar |34 will carry with it the frame |31, and the arms |38 will be rotated with the bar |36. As the arms |38 rotate the frames |40 will be raised and the trackway |43 will also be raised. As the cam |26 travels further the parts f the slot |5I.

g l l 2,837,989

the tanks ||0. the overflow |08 may be removed will return to their positions through gravity and the weight of the trackway |43 and frames |40.l The counter-balance weight |39 is not sufcient to prevent the lever |3| from bearing against the cam |26 at all times. After the cam face |21 has passed out of contact with the lever |3| the lever will be moved vto a small extent by each projection |28 as it passes. This will effect a vertical agitation of the trackway |43 for the purpose hereinafter described.

-As the forward end of the arms |38 move upward to raise the trackway |43, the line of motion will`be a slight arc. This will have a tendency to cause a slight swinging motion of thetrackway |43 since it is suspended solely by the pivots |4|. To prevent this, vertical guidewaysl (not shown) may be provided in which the trackway |43 or the arms |42 may operate.

In order to advance the frames 56 along the trackway |43 a horizontal motion is provided. A vertical pitman |46 is pivoted at |41 to a bracket |46 carried by one post |1. On its lower end the pitman |46 is formed with a reduced portion |50 for the purpose of operating a lever, as hereinafter described. The pitman |46 has formed therein a longitudinal slot |5| through which is disposed a stud |53 carried by a disc |52 which is operated by the shaft |25.

Extending from each post ||1 is a transverse support |54 having its front end supported on the post ||8 by a short angley iron |55. A longitudinal bar |56 has its ends |51 bent around the transverse supports |54. Carried by the supports |54` are blocks |58 on either side` of the ends |51 so that the bar `|56 is free to slide longitudinally of the apparatus'.

A lever |59 is carried on a pivot |60 on one transverse support |54. One end |6| of the lever |59 is bifurcated to receive the reduced end |50 of the pitman |46. The opposite end |62 of the lever |59 is also bifurcated and engages a pin |63 carried on one of the bent ends |51 of the bar |56. Depending from the bar '|56 are a plurality of angle members |64 adapted to engage behind the frames 56, to push the same along the trackway |43. The initial angle member |65 is slightly curved, as best shown in Figure 1, so that it may more readily engage a frame 56 if the same is not in proper position.

As the cam |26 rotates, the disc |52 will rotate therewith and the pitman |46 will move back and forth through the action of the stud |53 in As the cam face |21 engages the lever |3| the trackway |43 will be raised to the position shown in Figure 4. At that time the stud |53 Will be in the upper part of the slot |5| and further movement will cause the pitman |46 to move to the left from the position' shown in Figure 1. This movement will rock the lever |59 and move the bar |56 toward the right. Any frames 56 which are in the trackway |43 will lie in the path of movement of the angle members |64 or the initial angle member |65. Upon movement of the bar |56 the frames 56 will be advanced from a position over one tank I 0to a position over the succeeding tank I As the cam face |21 passes the lever |3|,the trackway |43 will again be lowered and the frames 56 immersed in the several tanks. As the cam |26 continues to turn, the pitman |46 will be moved from left to right causing the bar i|56 to return toward the left to its normal posiion.

It will be noted that the tanks H0 are twice as wide as the water tanks Il The purpose of this construction is to permit the illm 20 to be immersed twice in each tanklll! and only once in the wash tanks As the frame 56 is moved on the trackway |43 by the members |64 the frame will be moved from the left-hand to the right-hand side of each tank H0. On the next step the frame 56 will be moved into position to be immersed in a wash tank As the various projections |28 on the cam |26 pass the lever |3|, the trackway |43 will be raised and lowered slightly. This will not be suillcient to withdraw the film 20 from the various tanks but will eiect a desirable agitation of the frame 56 and the film'2.

In the operation of the apparatus the frames 56 are fed to the trackway |43 by inserting the ends of the member 51 into the complementary slots in the trackway |43 formed by the strips |44 and |45. Where the frames 58 are fed automatically it is desirable that they be fed to the trackway |43 during the time when the portion |29 of the cam |26 is in engagement with the lever |3I, all as disclosed in Patent No.'2,196,586. Where the frames 56 are fed to the trackway |43 manually, they may be applied at any stage, regardless of the position of the trackway |43. It is only necessary to insert the frames 56 far enough on 4the trackway so that they will be engaged by the initial member |65. If desired. more than one frame 56 may befed to the trackway at one time and the several frames will be moved along the trackway by a single member |64. As the frames 56 are moved by the last member |64 on the right hand end of the bar l, 3 m, they wm pass the right-hand ena of the ltrackway |43 and fall into a chute |80 which may communicate with any desired receptacle to receive the frames 56. The lm 20 is then removed and the frame 56 is ready for re-use.

Since the entire apparatus is controlled by the operation of motor |20 and the driving member |2|, the duration of the development may be readily controlled by varying the speed of the driving member in any conventional manner. The time of the developing process will vary with the conditions under which the work is being done.

Having thus .fully described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

In a photographic lm developing apparatus of the type having a. plurality of fluid containing tanks, the combination of a trackway extending over the tanks and adapted to support a film holder having a lm thereon, a pivotally mounted frame having the trackway pivotally connected therewith, said frame being rockable; to lower and raise the trackway and lower the holder and iilm into and raise the same out of said tanks, means for moving the illm holder and film along the trackway from one tank to another when said trackway is raised, said film holder moving means comprising a slidably mounted bar provided therealong with lm holder engaging elements, driving means, a shaft driven by said driving means, a cam for rocking said frame and driven by said shaft, and means actuated by the shaft for reciprocating said bar.

GARNET PETER GRANT, JR. 

